


Enigma

by SneetchesToo



Series: Nightfall [1]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: F/M, Flirting, One Shot, Random - Freeform, pre romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:33:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22760281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SneetchesToo/pseuds/SneetchesToo
Summary: "You're a bit of an enigma aren't you Captain Strand?" Her question was soft and her eyes were twinkling under the hospital lights and he found himself wondering what exactly he saw in Zoe that wasn't already right in front of him in Michelle.
Relationships: Owen Strand and Michelle Blake, Owen Strand/Michelle Blake
Series: Nightfall [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1638826
Comments: 15
Kudos: 38





	Enigma

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing for these two so fingers crossed it doesn't completely suck! If it goes well I hope to make this into a collection of random one-shots.

Owen didn't consider himself a complicated man, rather, he thought he was pretty straightforward.

Okay so he had hid his cancer from TK, and, well, everyone else in his life.

But that has more about self preservation than anything else.

Right?

It wasn't about his pride.

Never about his pride.

But then he had met Zoe and things hadn't gone to plan and all of a sudden it was all about his pride.

And while he found her incredibly attractive and every part of him, except for that one, wanted to spend the night tangled in the sheets with her, he hadn't been able to shut his brain off.

And his brain was telling him to follow his heart.

And following his heart had led him here.

Standing outside Michelle's hospital room at almost midnight, the bag of Chinese takeout he knew he shouldn't eat burning the palm of his hand as he shifted from foot to foot.

He didn't know why he'd come here.

Honest to God he didn't know what prompted this visit.

It's not like they were friends.

Or at least not the kind of friends that showed up at each other's hospital rooms with takeout.

He let out a deep breath as he closed his eyes and pondered turning around, but then the door to her room opened and he felt himself rooted to the spot.

"Captain Strand..." He was shocked to see her out of bed, hadn't she been put on bedrest and all that jazz? "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

“I uh..." He was not a man of few words and yet in the presence of this woman he found himself unable to form sentences.

"You brought food I see?" She gestured toward the brown bag in his left hand and he nodded his head in response.

"Chinese." He held the bag out to her and she smiled as she took it before stepping back into the room.

He stood there watching her for a minute and he felt like a moron.

What the hell was he doing here?

"You're not gonna make me eat alone are you?" She had climbed back up onto the bed and pulled the tray in front of her, the Chinese takeout containers slowly filling the space.

"I guess not." He shrugged his shoulders and stepped into the small room, his eyes doing a quick sweep of the space.

He wasn't sure what he was checking for but it made him feel slightly less nervous to do a survey of the room.

He supposed that was the good firefighter in him, always aware of where his exists were.

"You don't have to be so nervous." He hated that she could read him like a book.

She barely knew him.

Hell, she didn't know him at all.

And yet, here she was decoding his horrible poker face.

"I'm not nervous." He let out a chuckle as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. 

"Right." She took a bite of an egg roll and eyed him suspiciously.

She was onto him and he hated it.

"I'm not here to talk about me." He didn't really know why he was here actually, but he certainly knew it wasn't for his benefit.

Or maybe it was.

Maybe seeing her in person and making sure she was okay was what he needed.

He didn't know why he needed it.

But simply seeing her up and walking around and smiling that soft smile had put his mind at ease.

And, if he was telling the truth, which he totally wasn't, it had put his heart a little bit at ease too.

"So why are you here then?" Her voice was soft as she dug into the container of orange chicken, her eyes closing slightly at the first bite.

"Came to make sure you were okay." He didn't believe his bullshit line so he knew she wouldn't either. "Proper Texas manners and all."

She rolled her eyes as she set down the chopsticks she was using.

"You, Owen Strand, are full of shit." He couldn't help but laugh at her response.

He was full of shit, but no one but himself needed to know it.

"Okay..." He ran a hand through his hair with a huff. "So maybe I was a little worried about you."

She smiled as she grabbed the chopsticks once more, digging back into the container like nothing had changed.

"Well thank you for the concern," She shot him a side eye that made his heart do this weird flip flop thing, "but I'm gonna be just fine."

"Good to know." He avoided making eye contact as he shuffled his feet on the tiled floor below him. "I guess I'll be going then."

He turned to leave just as something collided with his shoulder.

When he turned around he saw the empty brown paper bag balled up and laying on the floor.

"What was that for?" He really didn't understand why she was suddenly attacking him with things.

"If you leave me here with all this food, alone, I will never forgive you." She crossed her arms over her chest as she glared at him. "Stay."

He shook his head back and forth.

This was a bad idea.

"I really shouldn't..." He had made plans with Zoe to have a late dinner.

A 'try again' date if he was being honest.

But to be honest, he didn't want to go with her to her fancy vegan only restaurant.

Instead, he really wanted to just stay here and eat greasy Chinese food.

Not to mention that at the current moment he was finding Michelle's company much more soothing than Zoe's.

"Yes, yes you should." She grabbed the extra pair of chopsticks and held them out to him. "Please. It's awfully lonely here..."

She was batting her eyes at him and smiling that smile and he was a fucking goner.

"Well we can't have you go and be lonely now can we?" He didn't realize how country that made him sound until she raised an eyebrow at him.

"You're a bit of an enigma aren't you Captain Strand?" Her question was soft and her eyes were twinkling under the hospital lights and he found himself wondering what exactly he saw in Zoe that wasn't already right in front of him in Michelle.

Except he knew exactly what it was.

Zoe was there and willing and everything that he thought he needed after two failed marriages.

Michelle however, Michelle was off limits and out of his reach and not his for the taking.

She was the kind of woman he had thought he would marry when he was younger.

The kind of woman that should have helped him raise TK.

But alas, that isn't what he got.

And now here he was twice divorced with lung cancer and a nonexistent sex drive.

He couldn't help but wonder if his sex drive would be better with Michelle.

"Earth to Owen..." The sound of her voice snapped him from his thoughts and he shook his head.

He really shouldn't be imagining those things about her.

She was his colleague.

Maybe his friend.

But nothing more.

"Sorry." He let out a sigh with his apology and she simply smiled.

"Come." She patted the spot on the bed beside her and he could feel his eyes getting bigger. "Sit. Talk." She gestured to the food in front of her then. "Eat."

He nodded his head as he stepped forward, closing the door behind him as he went.

"Okay, but you have to promise me something?" He stopped next to the bed and hesitated.

"What?" She cocked her head to the side, causing her hair to fall against her shoulder on one side, the other side of her neck being exposed to him.

He swallowed as he told his mind, and other parts of his body, to get it together.

"You tell no one about this." He was referring to the Chinese buffet in front of them but in reality he was also referring to the fact that he was in her hospital room.

The last thing he needed was anyone finding out about their late night meeting.

He had already heard enough lip from TK about his with her flirting at the bar.

The last thing he needed was his son to know he was here, with her, like this.

"It's our secret." She winked at him and he clenched his right hand into a fist as he took a deep breath. 

"Our secret huh?" He smiled then, wondering just how much they could keep a secret from the others.

"Our secret." The smile on her face made his heart do that weird flip flop thing again and he clenched his fist even tighter.

She was going to be the death of him, of that he was certain.


End file.
